Catcher In The Rye: Adulthood Vs Childhood

Shelby
English 11
June 4th’ 2013

“Catcher in the Rye”: Childhood versus Adulthood At a young age, every child is taught that at some point in their lifetime they will become an adult. Some children cannot wait to “grow up”, while others seem to resist it with every fiber of their being. A select few on the other hand are a combination of both, and in this category falls a boy named Holden Caulfield. His immaturity, self-denial, awful habits, and inability to move on from the past make him relatable to any teenager, or any former teenager. Holden is the main character in a famous novel by J.D. Salinger titled, “The Catcher in the Rye”. The baseline of the story is that Holden fails out of a private school and travels to New York
City all by himself and over a three day period. During this three day period he reminisces about his past and uses his excessive amount of money to search for a false happiness. Toward the end of “The Catcher in the Rye”, it is clearly shown that Holden has developed some sort of mental illness that his keeping him from gaining this maturity. The transition from childhood to adulthood is the pure focus of this novel, for his relationships with children, his depression, and his judgment are all factors that support this journey.

Holden believes that he is an adult, but he also naively wishes to become a child. One example of this is when Holden says “She was laying asleep with her face sort of on the pillow. Take adults, they look lousy when they’re asleep, but kid’s don’t. Kids look all right. They can even spit all over the pillow and they still look alright” (Salinger, 110). Holden finds everything much more appealing in the innocence of a child. He finds them both appealing in appearance and conversations. He finds children incorruptible, saying that even if they spit on their pillow and are covered in drool they still look descent. Holden himself wants to be like a child, uncorrupted by the world, as can be seen in this quote and throughout the novel. Holden’s fascination in children may be able to be tracked back to a traumatic even in his life. In another source it stated “One way to uncover layers of Holden’s mind is to look back on his childhood in order to find one significant childhood traumatic event that might explain his state of being.”(129). Holden’s brother Allie we discover has passed away due to possible cancer or an accident. Allie was only a few years younger than Holden when he passed, and it seems to take a large toll on Holden. An example is when Holden decides to write an essay on Allie’s old baseball mitt. It says, “You’d have liked him. He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times intelligent” (38, Salinger) Holden continues to explain all the reasons he loves Allie, and how great of a person his little brother was. Allie’s childhood death may be a rational explanation of why he is so connected and protective over children throughout the novel. Sometimes events in the past can disable someone from moving on.

Another quote pulled from the secondary source was “There are several ways critics have attempted to describe Holden’s positive characteristics, including rather obvious childlike innocence. This quality is relevant in a number of passages.” (12) Holden’s childlike innocence is bittersweet. He is transitioning to adulthood but keeps snapping back to being a child. His childlike behavior and innocence shows how his immaturity. It also more importantly shows how he has yet to fully develop into an adult, although he thinks he has already.
A major quote from “The Catcher in the Rye” is when Holden says “I keep picturing these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all.
Thousands of little kids and nobody’s around- nobody big, I mean- except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t know where they’re going.”(173, Salinger) This quote shows how Holden is facing problems becoming an adult himself so he wants to protect children from becoming adults. The rye field symbolizes innocence whilst the cliff symbolizes falling into adulthood. Holden wants to keep children from growing up, because he knows how corrupt the world is. He does not want the children’s innocence to be tarnished just as his is. His experience throughout the novel is very negative and he does not want the same burden on anyone
else. Holden constantly is shading a feeling a feeling of depression and prolonged sadness in the novel. This has an effect on how he cannot proceed to adulthood. When Holden is leaving Pencey Prep he says “I was trying to feel some kind of goodbye. I mean I’ve left schools and places, I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad goodbye or a bad goodbye, when I leave a place I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t you feel even worse.” (18, Salinger) This statement is a paradox. Holden wants to be connected to people, but he does not want to make any emotional investment that will end up depressing him. This is a childish act, probably resulting from losing his child brother Allie. He does not want to face the emotional toll of this, and it shows the reader that he is still stuck in the past. Another quote from “Catcher in the Rye” is when Holden says “When I finally got down off the radiator and went out to the hat-check room, I was crying and all. I don’t know why, but I was”(153, Salinger) Holden clearly has some sort of depression or mental illness. He is crying over simple reasons, and he cannot control it. Although Holden tries to stray away from his sadness in the novel it is clearly seen. His emotional breakdowns continue to get stronger as his character progresses. Holden’s lack of judgment also can support the idea of his struggle between childhood and adulthood. He says “I don’t even know what I was running for- I guess I just felt like it. “ (5, Salinger). Holden chooses “flight” whenever he is faced with a “fight of flight” situation. This is symbolic of him “running” from adulthood instead of growing up. He does not want to be tied down by the ropes of maturity. Throughout the book he runs from almost every tough decision or obstacle he is faced with. He does not know how to deal with adult situations which also supports his childlike qualities.
Another quote also says ““Well- take me to Edmont then,” I said. “Would you care to stop on the way and join me for a cocktail? On me, I’m loaded.”” (60, Salinger). Holden is not making judgment calls when drinking and communicating with strangers at his young age. He is desperate for someone to talk to. He also wants to drown away his confusion and sorrow with alcohol, and assumes talking and doing adult things makes him an adult. His assumption is sadly mistaken. His interactions with strangers stand behind the fact that he still acts like a child although he wants to explore the perks of being an adult.
Childhood versus Adulthood is the strongest and most vivid theme in the novel “The Catcher in The Rye”.
Holden struggles as he is on a thin line of maturity and immaturity. He wants to swing back from being a child to being an adult which he cannot do. His confusion is so substantial that it leads to depression, lack of judgment, and a false adoration of childhood innocence. He stereotypes the adult world to be corrupt and the child world to be heaven like. He constantly judges other people to push aside his self-demons. His longing to be a child again leads to his ultimate downfall, in which he is admitted to a psychological hospital. Although most novels of this time period go uphill with a positive ending, this book hits rock bottom at the end. It shows a drastic but realistic version of the amount of confusion and self-discovery in teenage hood while becoming an
adult.

Work Cited
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. pp 5. Print. Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. pp 18. Print Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951.pp 60. Print. Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. pp 110. Print. Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. pp 153. Print. Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. pp 173. Print.